Depositional Features

Question 1

Cuspate Foreland (low lying headland)

Answer 1

A triangular extension of the shoreline, created primarily by longshore drift and formed by the accretion and progradation of sand and shingle.

Question 2

Depositional landforms

Answer 2

Landforms created by the laying down of material on the coast by the sea, occurring when waves lose energy or when large inputs of sediment are made into the coastal system.

Question 3

Recurved spit

Answer 3

A spit which has changed shape due to wave refraction.

Question 4

Spit

Answer 4

A narrow piece of land which has one end joined to the mainland and projects into the sea or across an estuary. It forms due to a change in direction of the coastline. As the strength of the drift weakens away from the coastline, the sediment is deposited. Salt marshes often develop behind it. e.g. Spurn Head, Humberside, Holderness coast

Question 5

Tombolo

Answer 5

A bar of sand or shingle joining an island to the mainland. Deposition occurs where waves lose energy and a tombolo begins to accumulate. They may be covered at high tide, e.g. Lindisfarne

Question 6

Alluvium

Answer 6

A deposit of clay, silt, and sand left by flowing floodwater in a river valley or delta, producing fertile soil.

Question 7

Barrier beaches

Answer 7

A narrow and elongated beach (sand ridge) that rises slightly above the surface of the sea and runs roughly parallel to the shore from which a lagoon separates it.